Probation urged for Spirit of Knowledge Charter School in Worcester

State Commissioner of Education Mitchell D. Chester is recommending that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education place the Spirit of Knowledge Charter School on probation.

Mr. Chester got right to the point in a memo to the board this week; he said he based his recommendation on continuing concern about the viability of the school.

“In nearly three years of operation, SOKCS has employed four executive directors, has not maintained a sound or stable financial condition, has failed to maintain adequate membership on its board of trustees, has not provided the academic model proposed in its charter, has not shown promising academic results, has a significantly decreased enrollment from what it projected in its application, and will face financial challenges as a result of its drop in enrollment,” Mr. Chester wrote. “It is clear to me that the school's board of trustees has failed to oversee SOKCS effectively.”

Mr. Chester went on to detail what he described as substantial questions about the management of the school. He noted that the school's founding director resigned at the end of the school's first year, and was followed by two people who served and resigned during the school's second year. The present executive director, Paula Bailey, was previously a math teacher at the school.

He singled out the school's low math and science results, “given that the school was chartered as a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) school.”

Mr. Chester wrote that the school recorded a deficit in fiscal 2012, did not prepare a fiscal 2013 budget by the deadline, and has yet to submit its 2011-2012 annual report, which was due Aug. 1. Also, with an enrollment of 173 students, the school is not meeting the enrollment target of 240 students laid out in its charter, he wrote.

In a letter to families posted on the school's website, Ms. Bailey wrote that despite the probationary conditions, “students' education will not be affected, except to the extent that our improvements will also be improvements to their education.”

Ms. Bailey wrote that many good things are happening at the school: Several juniors have been accepted to prestigious summer STEM programs, and some seventh-graders will attend a summer science camp at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She wrote that staff was optimistic about students' English language arts MCAS performance in March, and anticipated good results on the math and science MCAS.

“We deeply believe that things at SOKCS are headed in the right direction,” Ms. Bailey wrote. “We are, as always, grateful that you have entrusted the education of your children to us and appreciative of your support of our school's vision of a values-based and rigorous college-preparatory STEM education along the way.”

The school moved last year from space at All Saints Church on Irving Street to the former St. Paul's Elementary at 19 Chatham St. Concerns about facilities were also mentioned in Mr. Chester's letter.

Mr. Chester laid out several recommendations for conditions to be placed on the school's charter, including that by July 1 the school must submit a facilities plan that must include timeliness for leasing, construction, and improvements “to ensure that the school's facility is programmatically accessible for the remainder of the charter term.”

The commissioner also recommended the school's board of trustees participate in training by an external consultant; that the board complete a comprehensive self-evaluation; that it develop and implement a formal system of evaluation for the executive director; and that it submit agendas, materials, and minutes of its meetings at the same time the items are sent to board members.

Charter schools are fully autonomous and operate as their own school district. The three charter schools already in the city are Seven Hills, Abby Kelley Foster and Spirit of Knowledge. Spirit of Knowledge is the newest and opened in fall 2010. The school's charter will expire June 30, 2015, unless renewed, Mr. Chester wrote.